An AWESOME anime about two brothers who have seemed to lost everything but still hold on. They are named Edward Elric, The stubborn, short but older child, and Alphonse Elric,who's soul is kept inside a suit of armour. His body was sacrificed for the attempt of bringing his(and ed's, duh) mother back.
Unfortunatly, there transmutation was a failure, and the price was far to great.
The brothers are now on a search for the legendary 'Philosipher's Stone' which is said to allow you to preform alchemy without the law of equivilant exchange. With this stone, the Elric brothers want to right their wrongs and gain their full bodies back.
The anime series contains 51 episodes.

A japanese manga/anime. Edward and Alphonse both lost something important to them. Edward, being the bigger brother, lost his leg while performing a human transmutation for his dead mother, due to this failure, Alphonse, his little brother, lost his whole body. With Edward's last strength he gave up his arm and was able to cast his brother's soul into a suit of armor. After finding out that a human transmutation is "impossible," they've journeyed to find the Philospoher Stone. The philsopher stone is a rumor that has made every alchemist in the 16-17 century worked up on finding this stone. It is because it can, make you wealthier, longevity, bring the dead back, turn lead into gold, brings anything you desire. However, on their journey, they meet chimeras and homunculus.....

You cannot gain something without losing something. You have to present something with the equal value to gain the thing you desire. This is the code of equivalent trade in alchemy- An Actual Alchemy Code

A kick ass anime show about the life of two brother, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who, after their mother died, attempted to bring her back to life. Their sacrifice to Equivalent Exchange was not great enough, so the Transmutation took Edwards leg and Alphonses body. Edward then used his right arm for material and transmuted his brotehrs soul to the armor in the corner. They now seek the legendary Philospohers stone, which allows them to pass the laws of equivalence, and get their bodies back to normal

The anime was based off the original manga by Hiromu Arakawa. However the anime and manga (at least after around episode 25 of the anime) take off on completely different storylines as wished by Arakawa herself.

Both follow along the story of two brothers (Edward and Alphonse Elric) who are alchemists, and use it as part of their every day lives. Alchemy in this series follows the law of Touka Koukan (Equivalent Exchange)- you cannot gain without sacrifice. After their father walked out on them and their mother died when they were young, they attempted to bring her back using human transmutation. Unfortunately, it failed, resulting Ed to lose a leg and Al losing his body in exchange for the attempt, and Ed to then lose his arm when he attatched Al's soul to a suit of armor. Winry Rockbell, their childhood friend, help rebuild Edward's limbs using bionics called "automail". It was not long after that Edward decided to become a State Alchemist and workf or the military, in order to gain the valuable research they needed to get their bodies back. Edward became the youngest State Alchemist of all time at the age of twelve when he performed a transmutation without a transmutation circle (a near impossible feat). During their research after Edward joined the military they came across notes of the Philosophers Stone- an alchemy amplifier that easily defies the law of Touka Koukan allowing them to gain without the sacrifice. The series continues with their search for the Stone.

Notes- Contrary to popular belief, it is not magic and has nothing to do with Harry Potter .

Hiromu Arakawa's manga was brought over and translated by VIZ. The manga itself is still in progress in both countries, but you can currently find the availible translated volumes wherever you buy manga.

Since the end of the anime series (a full 51 episodes) , a movie ( FullMetal Alchemist The Movie: The Conqueror of Shamballa , can also be found with the titles Hagaren: Conqueror of Shamballa, or even Shamballa's Conqeuror ) , three RPGPS2 video games, one PS2 fighting game, two Gameboy Advance games, a Nintendo DS game, and several animated shorts have been released. You may also find soundtracks, DVDs, and other such merchandise for the show.

An excellent show with an original plot and endearing characters. Even though the pacing suffers in the second half, this show is a pioneering anime that blends humor, legend, and characterization to produce a true anime classic.

Regarding the ridiculous flame war between Inu Yasha fans and FMA fans:

Inu Yasha is funny and somewhat interesting, but it suffers from horrible pacing, pointless filler episodes, and jaded anime hallmarks that wear out quickly. FMA may have a few scattered cliches, but it never slows down as a series.

An anime based loosely on the Manga of the same name that contains 51 episodes. The story revolves around the Elric brothers who after comiting the ultimate taboo of human transmutation, set off on a journey to take back what was lost.

The anime and Manga diverge after the first arc and popular opinon states that the manga is easier to understand. The anime was developed by Bones, the same studio to work on cowboy bebop and wolf's rain.

There is also a video game out on the playstation two which has recieved mixed reviews. Popular with those who already fans of the anime or manga, gamers find the gameplay too simple for such a complex idea as alchemy.

The opening theme song, ready, steady, go is by the popluar j-rock band l'arc en ciel that came to the US for a live concert at Otakon, paired with the early showing of the first two episodes of the anime.

(aside)
For those of you using this to slander FMA or Inuyasha I really wonder what kind of lives you have. This is supposed to be semi informative. Also which is better is a matter of opinion. Both are very popular series. Rather than attack another series it is better to watch a variety of anime and read a variety of manga so that you can be exposed to different types since Inu yasha does end, as does FMA and you'll eventually want to find another series to obsess over. I happy anime is growing in popularity since it ean that more animes are being brought over, such as inu yasha and FMA. Why not instead of attacking eachother with poor grammer and worse spelling go out and get a copy of last exile, serial experiments lain, x/1999, hellsing, read or die, or a studio ghibli movie?

Full Metal Alchemist is one of the best anime to come out in this generation with great charcaters one of the best plots ive ever seen and a great mix. of Humor, Action, Science fiction and loads of other stuff. Not saying that Inu-Yasha is bad but FMA is proboly going to be #1 for a while. This is what anime should be.

Human Kind cannot gain anything without giving something in return

To obtain something of equal value must be lost

This is Alchemys first law of Equvulant Exchange

In those days we really tought for that to be the worlds one and only truth